HOROWITZ, DURHAM, BARR

by Bob Walsh

Michael Horowitz is the Inspector General of the Justice Department. John Durham is a U. S. Attorney. William Barr is the Attorney General.

Horowitz has been running a very, very long administrative investigation into many aspects of what is generally called the Russia Investigation, with emphasis on the FISA court presentations. Basically he has been looking into the predicate cause, or lack thereof, of the investigation in the first place and how it was handled.

Durham is a prosecutor. He is looking at pretty much the same thing. He has subpoena power and can look into a much wider field of people and subjects than could Horowitz, who was limited to dealing with current employees of the DOJ.

William Barr is the tall dog. He makes the final decision on who gets prosecuted and who doesn't, and what they are charged with.

Horowitz concluded that the DOJ did in fact have a predicate cause to begin the investigation. He did, however, find 17 specific aspects of their FISA presentations to be highly questionable as they seemed to be based in lies of omission. He made at least one referral for criminal prosecution, against a former FBI lawyer who tweaked documents presented to the FISA court. Horowitz stated that he found no intentional misconduct or political bias in the investigation. The report also acknowledged said that the bar for legal initiation of such an investigation is lower than whale shit.

In a highly unusual, maybe even stunning event, Durham released a public statement immediately following the release of the Horowitz report. He asserted that he disagreed substantially with the Horowitz findings. He did not, however, cap on Horowitz personally. He did state the obvious, that his investigation covered a much broader area than did Horowitz's and had much more information to work from. He disagreed specifically about the presence of a predicate cause for the investigation in the first place.

Barr was also sharply critical of the Horowitz report, stating among other things that; "The inspector general's report now makes clear that the F.B.I. launched an intrusive investigation of a U. S. presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions that, in my view, were insufficient to justify the steps taken."

So, what is going to shake out. Durham will not drop any indictments for several months in all probability. Just as the primary season starts rolling along seriously or maybe even well into it.

It has hard for me to understand how Horowitz concluded that the big cheeses in the FBI didn't screw the pooch when a shitload of them have been fired and may face prosecution. It is hard for me to understand how you can not reasonably believe there was a political bias in the investigation when essentially the entire investigative staff was manifestly prejudiced against the subject of the investigation. But then again I don't live or work in the swamp so maybe my point of view is just enough off that the reality of things is not clear to me. Then again, maybe I am the one who is seeing clearly, and Horowitz doesn't see the swamp because he lives and works on a lily pad right in the middle of it. How does that line go? I've been down so long it looks like up to me. So maybe if you spend enough time in the swamp you really and honestly think it is solid, dry land.

At any rate both sides will claim victory. The Democrats will move on with their self-destructive attempt to cancel the 2016 election and prevent Trump from stomping their asses into the dirt in 2020. Reasonable people (those in the middle 15-20%) who care to look will find the operation of the impeachment committees to be warped and biased beyond any reasonable level of belief. And the world will keep spinning, as will both sides of this question.

EDITOR'S NOTE: What a waste of time and money!